The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-05-25

q sidewalk and 60. an iron rod ten feet long
u could not see the hole through the res
door, owing TO the curtain no one co1l
: have shot in the rear door After irwin
the rod IN every possible way, came To tn
conclusion that a man could NOT have fire
tnat shot from the approach; placing th,
l greatest tension on the lining a man woul,
! nave been lying down or had his hand OF
} tne ground to have made that shot; 1eavin,
the lining slack, the shot must have beer
: nred from the opposite seat of the wagon
a man ofGambrells height standing on tn,
approach could not have fired the sho
J through the top of the buggy; if he hac
Deem lying down near the wheel il might
have been possible; Gambrell was found
on the walk about feet inches from the
wheel, as the carriage was placed in one Of
the experiments none of the ATTORNEYS
were present when the experiments were
made; made this examination at the re,
quest of the district attorney
| Cross-examined-Never saw Roderick
Gambrell in a hand-to-hand encounter
Judged his courage by what he knew OF
him. A horse and carriage might have
passed his house without his knowing it.
The carriage during the investigation was
last placed at the second post, the front
wheels on the bridge; made no other or
! different inspections. Heard that a bullet
| was found In a schoolroom near the Capt.
| toll Mr.. Adams told him of il. The first
shot he heard was a loud one; the others
were all together. The noise sounded like
DOZEN CANNON CRACKERS
| fred at once: did nna-e etop to consider as
TO .hv number of persons engaged in that
shooting. The distance from post TO post
was then taken; did not measure the dis
| tances from the posts did not make any
measurement of what a man could have
! done had he been standing where the
approach Joined the bridge; did not meas
| ure from the seat of the buggy to the top,
Ii man in the buggy fired the shot he
would not be over two feet from the top.
The lining is loose pressed ii up, gave it
| the greatest tension possible and at this
point located the shot ascending from about
the bottom of wheel. Did not see any
powder burns in the lining of the top of
the carriage; did not try to see whether he
could sit down in the carriage and touch
the top; believe that Gambrell was assassi-
mated; believed that when he made the
measurement; will always believe il until
1t is proven otherwise; could not say
exactly when he came to this belief; had
not heard that the shot supposed to have
been fired in the carriage was a fabrication.
Mr.. Miller asked witness to make the
measurement; they had been good friends
at college. Witness believes that the shot
was fired from the inside of the carriage;
witness was excused to go and measure the
interior of the carriage so as TO get the
exact distance from the seat to the top, etc.
The State here proposed to move the car
riage to the bridge and to get an expert
shot to fire through the roof the carriage
to be placed where the defense claims it to
have been when the shooting occurred.
The defense said that it would not trust
the case on the caprice of a bullet.
In this connection Mr.. Calhoon said
Gin practice of thirty years it is my first
experience of propositions being obtruded
persistently on the defense, the only effect
of which and of the urgent insistance that
the proposition be put in the record, is to
manufacture public opinion OF case yet
to be tried by jury, and in which so
much has already been done having that
direct tendency, though charge no design
to prejudice the accused in the popular
mind.
He declined to entertain the proposition,
making the point that the defense did not
receive or reject it, but simply declined to
entertain it.
District Attorney Miller replied as fol-
lows:
"rhe proposition was not intended to in
huence public sentiment 1t was very
proper and usual thing on trials of this
sort for juries to be carried to the scene of
the homicide and view all the physical
signs of the conflict that the proposition
was made solely because they deemed the
practical experiment with pistol shot at
the most favorable angle and from the
most favorable position for the defense
was the best demonstration of the possi-
bility of the shot having been made through
the buggy as claimed by the defense"
The court ruled that the proposition had
been made and declined and that ended
the matter, the court at the same time
mentioning the fact that a practical test
would better illustrate the position of the
carriage and Gambrell than evidence and
he inf a
Mr.. Emerson and Major W. II. Gibbs
went out to make the measurements.
MAC ROBINSON,
coIored, residing IN Flora, Madison county
Was at Jane Anderson's near the bridge,
on the east side of the street; was sitting
on the gallery at the first shot; got up and
heard the cry of murder three times while
the pistols were fired rapidly; witness
with his voice tried to make the sound of
the reports; thought there were two men
shooting mighty fast; did not see anybody
on the bridge; saw the flashes; the flashes
were angling little, one going right to
the other; the flashes appeared to be up
and down the walk; this is where all The
flashes were located that is all he heard at
that time; after the firing heard man
beating another one; sounded like man
beating flesh; Jane Anderson was making
so much fuss about the beating that he did
q
carriage pass over the bridge that night;
could have seen or heard one had it passed
it was a beautiful clear night; no carriage
rolled over that bridge that night at that
time the cry was such as made by man
overpowered, like a cry of sorrow of a man
in great distress, like cry made by a man
who felt his last moment had come.
Cross-examined-The cry was one like
man shot would make; was talking about
the quiet when the shot was heard had
been on the gallery some minutes; had
Just come from the bridge; had been down
in the valley; did not hear carriage pass
then; none passed; was certain of that
fact did not see any one pass no one was
passing had been on the gallery some time; ;
the last caTriege had passed a quarter of
an hour, going to West Jackson to catch
the train could not tell how long since a
carriage passed going to East Jackson /;
might have been a half hour; did not see
any one on the bridge did not see any one
| pass over the bridge going east or west.
Re-direct-Saw man directly after the
shooting; saw a man come off the bridge
| and walk pass Miss Cabaniss 8 house heard
| her ask him what was the matter he did
not answer. He was walking fast. Have
| been on the stand about ten minutes.
| Here the court ruled that the proposition
made and rejected by the defense to shoot
| in the carriage should not go in the
| record.
District Attorney Miller asked that the
court order that the shooting test be
| made.
The court declined to issue the order and
ruled the proposition out of the record.
| The court s ruling was made part of the
record with the argument leading thereto.
| The whole matter was taken by the short
hand reporter, and in this way will be in
| the record.
| Mr. O. D. Subway
a member of the corners jury, identified
| the pistol in evidence as the one give the
| jury by Mr.. Albrecht. The pistol was
bloody. The handle and right side were
bloody; there was blood in the sight-bridge
and some on the left chamber. Did not
remember seeing any blood on the barrel.
| The pistol was delivered, to the best of his
belief, on Saturday. by Albrecht. Viewed
| the scene of the killing; saw the mark OF
a bullet that struck the post in the wire
fence. Witness was where Gambrell fell
when he noticed the hole He had an i'm
preston that the bullet had been fired from
| the roadway.
The pieces of wood from the post were
| presented to the jury; the pieces were
placed with the pistol Have been unable
to find these pieces. The justice of the
peace says that he could not find them; be
did not remember seeing them after the in
quest; gave the names of all the accused
| who testified before the coroner There
were two pistols produced Recogniz ed
II the Smith & Wesson 32-calibre; said thai
it was exactly like the one picked up BY
Mr. Carraway. Did not see Mr.. Carraway
make any effort to get any other pistol a
the scene of the shooting. 1t was picked
up near Gambrelrs body A gentleman
picked it up and Mr.. Carraway said, "a
will take charge of that" 1t was not ex
amined then to see whether it was all ex
ploded- The Smith Wesson was tn.
only pistol seen that night. Was at HON.
when he heard the shots; walked fast I.